One of the first web novels to really catch my interest, with engaging characters in a decently fleshed-out setting. Jumps around translators a bit early on, but only one of them is really sub-par and after that it enjoys a long run with a very good translator. Unfortunately they dropped the series when it was licensed, and the groups that picked it up haven't been as consistent with their releases.... more>>

Also has a pretty good manga adaptation with *mostly* gorgeous art, aside from the incredibly cartoony design for the summoned wolf character. Pretty high on my list of things I'd like to see an anime adaptation of, but I doubt they'd be able to do it justice. <<less

I shouldn't like this as much as I do. The basic premise is kinda dumb and the lead character gets all sorts of cheats and prizes handed to him, but he's not unlikable and it's an easy and mostly well-written low-stress read. Unfortunately the state of the WN's fan translations is pretty much verklempt, but the licensed LNs are readily available.... more>>

Also has an okay-ish manga adaptation, and got an anime a few years ago that unfortunately ended it's season right at the point where the overarching story in the novel got started. It was a pretty low-effort adaptation to begin with, though, and it doesn't seem likely that it'll ever get a follow up. <<less

Starts off with the basic premise of a dungeon management isekai, and then effectively tosses it out of the window by making the dungeon so secure that it mainly functions as a stage for the fluffy stuff mentioned in the title. Instead most of the plot's action comes from the MC thrusting himself into the middle of the various political machinations around the people he becomes close to and trampling all over them with his complete disregard for the world's norms. The story has some interesting hints at how the whole dungeon system works, but has yet to actually do anything with them.... more>>

Initially translated by a kinda cruddy group, but then sniped by a good translator who re-did the entire run for a consistent read. Continues to get regular updates, although releases are a bit more erratic than they were in the past. Also has a decent manga adaptation, and it wouldn't surprise me if it got tapped for an anime at some point. <<less

The epitome of 'casually overpowered'. The MC gets transmigrated with an embarrassing outfit that makes her one of the strongest things on the planet, but she's far more interested in good food and hanging out with her ever-increasing collection of little girls than in world-shaking adventures. Has fairly good action scenes despite that, with a habit of finding inventive ways for her to use her various powers. Gets a lot of humor from the local characters' reactions to the fundamental absurdity of her existence.... more>>

Enjoyed a long run from a very good translation group, but they dropped the series when it got licensed. It got picked up almost immediately by another group that's not quite as polished, but it's still quite readable. Author's notes on the WN chapters mention some changes in the LN versions, so it might be worth checking those out as well. Also has an okay-ish manga, and an anime in production. <<less

One of the best dungeon management genre books. Fun and enjoyably distinctive characters in an interesting if not very deeply explored setting. The lead is a schemer type who stumbled into various cheats, but is smart enough to keep most of them under wraps to avoid giving away his gimmicks. Usually pretty low-stakes, except for when the story veers darker to set up something for the MC to go all Evil Genius on, which sometimes results in a fairly gruesome comeuppance for the antagonists.... more>>

Enjoys a long run from a good translator, but unfortunately releases have slowed down to a sporadic trickle. The offical English translations of the light novel version are also quite good, although it should be noted that there are drastic differences between the LN and WN versions, to a degree I haven't seen in any other series. An entire arc setting up a main character's backstory and building to the introduction of an antagonist was excised in the transition to the LN version (apparently due to one character from it being unpopular), so the antagonist's LN introduction is rather clunky, and whole new arcs are made up whole cloth to fill out the later novels which don't always quite mesh with the preexisting WN content. It's worth reading both to get the whole of the story, tho. <<less

Enjoyable despite its odd writing style. It's hard to actually call it a novel; it's written more like a recounting of events than as a narrative, with single short chapters that can cover months of in-story time. The story itself is rather entertaining, with the main character's request for a quiet, simple reincarnation turning into something absurdly overpowered. The author gets a lot of humor out of the locals' reactions to the MC's abilities, and out of the MC's reaction to suddenly being a major focal point for people. Especially with his villagers, who end up being nearly all women, leading to him experiencing the downsides of the harem route.... more>>

Translations are only just okay, but they're adequately readable. Bonus points for the whole run coming from the same translator, but unfortunately they've developed a tendency to vanish for long stretches of time due to RL isses and have no hope of getting anywhere near to catching up to the raws at this rate. <<less

Sort of the platonic ideal of the cooking isekai genre. The main character himself is fairly mediocre in most ways, but his ability to import novel products from Japan and his surprisingly good cooking skills net him a supporting cast of some of the strongest entities in the other world. Gets a lot of humor out of him trying his best to try to keep up with the insanity that's latched onto him, inbetween the cooking scenes. Also notable for having absolutely zero romantic plots.... more>>

Enjoys a long run from a very good translator, but unfortunately their releases slowed down significantly about the same time the series got licensed and have now been lapped by the official translations. Worth picking those up if you like the story, as there seems to be very little difference between the WN and LN versions. Also has a rather nice manga adaptation, and is another entrant on my list of books I'd like to see as an anime. <<less

To answer the title's question: Yes. The MC gets loaded with growth cheats that pretty quickly allow him and those associated with him to become some of the best in the world at whatever they set their minds to, so that part doesn't really come into play after a while. Instead the story quickly recenters itself around the various improvements he makes in the world with his other-world ideas and how they antagonize the theocratic nation responsible for the hero summoning. Interesting for how it treats the summoning cliche as a basically evil thing to do, and for how its antagonists are fundamentally wrong about how their own world works. The plot also develops a... more>> lot faster than might be expected given the truly large original language chapter count.

Has a consistent run from a good translator with fairly regular releases, but it's still going to take them quite a while to catch up. <<less

Honestly has one of the dumbest premises in isekai, taking place in a world where literally every resource is procured through dungeon drops, and the... more>> plot is pretty thin and haphazard on top of that. Still a pretty entertaining read despite those issues, though, thanks to some fairly enjoyable character work. <<less

A relatively quiet, personal, low-stakes slice of life type story ostensibly about a reincarnator who uses her memory of modern life to create magical devices, but the core of the plot is how she rebuilds and improves her life after the disastrous ending of an ill-matched engagement. Features one of the most universally reviled antagonists in web novel history. Seriously, he's just the worst.... more>>

Experiencing the odd situation of dueling translators; one has been translating the story from the beginning and is quite good but also painfully slow, while the other picked it up mid-way during one of the initial translator's lulls and shotgunned out a number of chapters with lesser- but still readable- quality. This appears to have spurred the first group into doing more chapters, but their pace doesn't seem like it'll catch up with the second's any time soon. <<less

An interesting premise with entertaining characters, but it appears to be cursed. Both the WN and the (pretty good) manga adaptation have been stuck with... more>> painfully slow translations, which is a bad match with the story's slow-developing plot.  Despite that, it's good enough so far that I don't want to give up on it. <<less